Yeah I am pretty sneaky. The last two proposals were so sweet and yes hilarious!

Surprise Proposal One

Chris called me several weeks before the main event.

His bride-to-be, Samantha, was totally clueless what was about to occur. He had been conspiring with her mom and now I was a part of the conspiracy. Chris had some very romantic ideas but after some discussion we decided he should save those for after the proposal thinking she would figure out something was up, right?!

The real trick was getting her to wear a cute dress instead of her everyday togs. And mom thought a day of beauty would be in order. So we planned to converge in Jackson Square so he could propose in front of St. Louis Cathedral, both being very spiritual.

I told Chris she will not notice me.

At best she will think I am a sloppy dressed tourist taking bad photos. He had sent me photos of the two of them so I had a good idea who to be watching for as he guided her to the spot. Thankfully most of my clients are social media active so it's easy for him to grab a selfie of them and tell her he's posting it while really texting it to me.

See - sneaky. Devious? Maybe a bit. 

Well they arrived, I was already waiting taking the street shots I am known for so she didn't give me a second thought.

However, once he hit the ground on one knee I turned my camera to the action. Still she was clueless about me. In fact as you will see in the photo sequence he kept pointing at me finally saying "she is OUR photographer!"

Yup, totally undetected.

Total CANDID!  The way candid is supposed to be.

And no telephoto lens for moi. I shoot close and personal because the reactions surrounding them as he proposes are just as important to set the scene for a very memorable moment. And I got to capture it!

We had fun after doing more street photography and crazy portraits in the style Chris was wanting to give to his new fiance, Samantha. I wish them both the most awesome engagement and life together in marriage!

Surprise Proposal Two

Patrick and I connected mostly through email with a couple of calls in between as we plotted our sneaky plans to surprise his beautiful bride-to-be, Chris.

Of course, like Chris and Samantha this was a destination proposal. So logistically, we have to work together very closely to enable his big moment to go off without a hitch. As always we made a Plan B in case of inclement weather so that takes a ton of stress off the planning.

This one was going to be trickier because unbeknownst to Patrick his date coincided with the annual Lutheran conference where 20,000+ Lutherans gather in New Orleans for their national meeting before they hit the streets volunteering in many projects for those in need. So the French Quarter was to be packed to the brim at 10:45am on a Saturday.

Finding them in the crowd wasn't supposed to be difficult because at first he was planning to wear a Ninja Turtles backpack. I mean how can you miss that?? Or the cool dude wearing it?? He decided it would be easier to get to the ring if he blew off the backpack so he wore a great red hat.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, each Lutheran Church has a different color scheme the volunteers wear, so red hats, yeah a gazillion of them!!!

I knew where we had planned to meet but found it exceptionally crowded. So I climbed up high to have a good vantage point but was also visible to Patrick. I gave him the nod we agreed upon but missed his wink of acknowledgment because the sun was in my eyes. Therefore he and Chris disappeared into the crowd as I crouched lower and pushed through the crowd.

Then he weaved through the carriages to the other side of the street. With my backpack there was no getting through so I had to run around pushing again through the crowd and shuffling past. All the while with my eye on them.

But apparently I was a bit obvious, but not in a way that blew the proposal but only made it more a surprise.  Because she was watching me and proclaiming "Wow, she's in a hurry." When they arrived to the area he was prepared to propose at, we found another couple was getting married, so he had to relocate. It was fast, furious and whirlwind, all the while Chris had no idea what was about to happen.

She did confess later when he surprised her yet again with both families and some friends in attendance to celebrate together, that she had noticed a few odd things lately but hadn't put them together till just now. And she was blown away at how many people kept the secret! 

If you are artistically inclined, wanting more real and unique photographs from that very special moment when she says yes then give me a call 504-920-8703.